YWAM Leaders Read: Danny Lehman

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Danny Lehmann (YWAM's Int'l Ministries director for Evangelism and Dean of the College of Christian Ministries of YWAM's University of the Nations resides in Honolulu); he reads widely as you can see.

Repenting of Religion -by Gregory Boyd This is an excellent read in which Boyd was able to simplify some of the more complex writings by Dietrich Bonhoeffer (killed in a Nazi concentration camp) who had an amazing insight into the Scriptures and their application (see Creation and Fall and Cost of Discipleship). The main thesis of the book is this; either we are walking with the Lord on a daily basis from a perspective of judging others (eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) or walking in love (eating from the tree of life!). I found the spiritual application of the two trees to be enlightening as I seek to follow Jesus who “came not to judge the world but to save the world.” Drawing on some great illustrations, Boyd suggests that we ask ourselves a simple question whenever we encounter anyone: Am I walking in love or am I walking in judgment? He gives practical advice on how to deal with what he calls “Rage of the Pharisees” which is his synonym for judgmental, critical, mean-spirited Christians who love to criticize others. He contrasts that with the way of Jesus, who (while not compromising) exhibited humility and tolerance, and believed the best about others. I’d give this one a 10, on a scale of 1-10.	Velvet Elvis -by Rob Bell Lately I have immersed myself in books by some of the more postmodern Christian authors, including: The Emerging Church (by my friend Dan Kimble), Brian McLaren’s titles (A New Kind of Christian, The Story We Find Ourselves In, The last Word and the Word After That, A Generous Orthodoxy, Adventures in Missing the Point [see more on these four previous titles below]), and titles by Leonard Sweet and Chuck Smith Jr. Out of all of these who write with great insight about the issues surrounding the postmodern generation, I think Rob Bell (a 33 year-old pastor of a large church in Michigan whose ministry I have been following over the last couple of years) is not only the most refreshing, but his Velvet Elvis is the most clear. Subtitled “Repainting the Christian Faith,” he provides refreshing insights into reaching this generation as well as some excellent dipping into Hebrew and rabbinical traditions to help illustrate his point. Apart from a lame illustration about the Virgin Birth, his book is awesome, and his insights will keep you on the edge. I would give this one a 10 on the scale of 1-10.
A New Kind of Christian Trilogy (A New Kind of Christian, The Story We Find Ourselves In, The last Word and the Word After That) -by Brian McLaren All of McLaren’s books (“A Generous Orthodoxy, Adventures in Missing the Point and “The Church on the other Side”) have had a curious effect on me. While about every three or four pages I feel like throwing the book against the wall, I find that I am drawn back to McLaren’s writings by his provocative, in your face observation of Christian reality prevalent especially in the West. At the risk of over-generalizing, the “New Kind of Christian” trilogy are three fictional books following a typical American over-40 pastor who is burned out on Christian politics, trite answers to deep questions and the recognition that he is a product of “modern” Christianity ministering in a “post-modern” world. McLaren is an excellent writer who through his fiction draws you in and makes you think. The maddening part of his writing, however, is that you can never tell what the guy really believes! I suppose this is because many post-modern authors like McLaren focus in on questions rather than answers. For example, in the second book it seems that he is “pushing” evolution and in the last book he is certainly questioning the concept of an eternal hell. In general, the new “Kind of Christian” is more Christ-like and kind, focused-in on the demonstration of Christianity by good works rather than by correct doctrine. While he doesn’t dismiss objective truth and classic evangelical doctrine as unimportant, he certainly says that the new kind of Christian will be less nasty, less mean-spirited and gentler than the (and perhaps this is a caricature) fundamentalist, homophobic, we’re-right/you’re-wrong kind of attitude that comes from the “old kind of Christian.” McLaren is a guy that I certainly have to say, from the get go, that I don’t agree with everything he says, but I love to read him because he’s got me thinking, and I am slowly becoming a “new kind of Christian” while hopefully hanging onto my old moorings, being anchored of God’s objective eternal truth.
The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity -by Philip Jenkins This book is somewhat of a chore to get through, due to its meticulous research and detail that Jenkins goes into to make his point. His point is this: in general, the Christian world is rapidly moving from light to dark (as far as skin color) and North to South. Already the church is two-thirds non-Western (Latin American, African and Asian) but Jenkins predicts that the balance of power and influence, even theologically, is switching to non-western nations. A couple of quotes; “If we want to visualize a “typical” contemporary Christian we should think of a woman living in a village in Nigeria or in a Brazilian favela”… ”By 2050 only about one-fifth of the world's three billion Christians will be non-Hispanic whites. So, the phrase “a white Christian” may sound like a curious oxymoron, as mildly surprising as “a Swedish Buddhist.” This book, although a tad bit scholarly, should be read in my opinion by all Western YWAM leaders, especially those of us who tend to be possessed with what my friend Gayle Erwin calls “white think.” Jenkins simply points out what God is doing and suggests that we jump on board. There is extra concentration needed to stay with Jenkins, but the effort is worth, and yields tremendous insights into the emerging Christianity.	The School of Biblical Evangelism -by Kirk Cameron & Ray Comfort Ray is a good friend of mine. I can tell you he practices what he preaches. While his other book, “Hells Best Kept Secret,” is becoming kind of a classic, I think that this book is his best one yet. Not only is it an epic (768 pages, 101 chapters!) on how to “share your faith simply, effectively, and Biblically the way Jesus did,” it also provides practical ways to share our faith. Ray (and now Kirk with him) are well known for encouraging Christians to share their faith by using the law in order to present the Gospel. While unfortunately some people have seen his teaching or read Ray’s books and go through the Ten Commandments in a mechanistic almost legalistic sense, it does not take away from the wealth of Ray’s emphasis on using the law to bring conviction of sin. Unfortunately in the 21^st century we have so emphasized the “Father Heart of God,” that we forget that God is also a judge who will punish sinners for their sins. This emphasis cannot be changed because we live in a postmodern generation where people don’t believe in absolute truth. The truth remains, people have to realize they’re sinners in order to repent, they have to understand the bad news before they will want the good news. The 'School of Biblical Evangelism' helps bring this out in at least 101 ways, I highly recommend it.
Desiring God -by John Piper I joke with my friends and call John Piper “my favorite Calvinist” as sometimes, Piper weaves strong Calvinist views into his book (I am not a Calvinist). It is loaded with Biblical insight and challenge with regards to discipleship and missions. 'Desiring God' is solid Biblical teaching on a concept that Piper calls “Christian Hedonism.” Hedonism is usually viewed in a negative way, understandably so. He simply points to the many scriptures in which God tells us to “delight in him.” He defines hedonism as the pursuit of pleasure, and Christian Hedonism as the pursuit of pleasure in God. He deals a death blow to a concept that I was raised on in my Christian faith, an emphasis on “we are unworthy, we shouldn’t expect anything out of God and any blessing we get is a result of His mercy on us unworthy creatures.” While Piper is certainly not preaching a prosperity Gospel or Santa Claus evangelism type of message, he simply acknowledges (and with people like C.S. Lewis backing him up) that God created us to be fulfilled and happy--BUT ONLY IN HIM. Coupled with his other book “Let the Nations be Glad” these are two of the best books I’ve read in the last two years. Solid Biblical insights that help us breathe a little bit easier when wishing to live happy lives!	Let the Nations Be Glad -by John Piper Although this book is a few years old, it istill ranks as one of my favorites as I read it a second time. The opening chapters on worship, prayer and suffering are alone worth the price of the book. Piper is deeply rooted in Scripture but also deeply passionate about world missions. Even though coming from a Reformed perspective, he has a good grasp on our missional responsibility and the heart of God with regards to reaching the lost. While many may not agree with his “exclusivist” position about those who have never heard the Gospel, he does make a good case for it. I myself, being an inclusivist, prefer the view of my friend Don Richardson in his book “Secrets of the Koran.” Nevertheless, I did appreciate Piper’s argument and warning that an inclusivist view or anything close to what Brian McLaren writes in his “The Last Word and the Word After That” book could result in undermining the need for missions. An added bonus of the book is that it makes probably the best case for the fact that Jesus commands us to go to each and every people group in the world. He deals a death blow to what I consider a sloppy missiology by those who think that some vague involvement among gentiles alone will be sufficient in fulfilling our Great Commission responsibility. Piper makes a clear and forceful point; it confirmed my call to missions. Again, this book deserves a 10.
A Generous Orthodoxy -by Brian McLaren Like the New Kind of Christian trilogy, this book pretty much brings out McLaren’s views except in more of a straight forward teaching format, rather than the fiction format of the Trilogy. Like the trilogy however, we still have a hard time figuring out where McLaren stands on certain issues, as is made clear in his introduction where he calls himself a "missional, evangelical, post-Protestant, liberal/conservative, mystical/poetic, biblical, charismatic, contemplative, fundamentalist/Calvinist, Anabaptist, Methodist, Catholic, green, incarnational, depressed-yet-hopeful, emergent, unfinished Christian." So, you can see why I am a bit confused. But, as with his other books, he always brings me back for more, and despite feeling like throwing it in the garbage every couple of pages, I look forward to his next book; I want to try and really get the spirit of what he is saying. There’s a chapter for each of the above streams of Christianity. Being involved in an interdenominational mission (i.e., YWAM), it was a bit refreshing for me to be able to receive the deposit that God has placed in all of the different denominations without focusing in on the negatives. Perhaps the weakness in his writings is that the only thing he seems to be negative about are those of us who are hardcore Bible believing, Gospel preaching, mission minded, evangelical Christians. But I suppose humility would dictate that we listen to what he has to say, eat the fish, spit out the bones--which is truly generous orthodoxy!	God at War -by Gregory Boyd In this book, Pastor Boyd makes a strong case for “a warfare worldview” present in the Bible and crucial for the understanding of reality in general. This stands in contrast to the view of God's “meticulous control” or sovereignty over the World, which Boyd contends is not the Biblical worldview. Boyd contends that within His sovereignty God has allowed for at least some degree of free will in his creatures and certainly free will for the powers of darkness that are allowed under his sovereignty to engage us in warfare. In fact, he says, God himself is actually at war with these powers and enlists us to join in the battle with him against them, hence the title of the book, God at War. While one my not agree with all of Boyd’s conclusions and may not line up with him in his “Open” view of God, the chapters on “the warfare worldview of the New Testament” e.g., Tying up the Strong Man (6) War of the Worlds (7) Storming the Gates of Hell (8) Christus Victor (9) and Engaging the Powers (10) are certainly worth the price of the book. In them he examines not only the teachings of Jesus and his exorcisms and miracles as an exercise in spiritual warfare, but also the ultimate victory Christ promised, as well as some practical ways that we can “engage the powers.” While I usually recommend Dean Sherman's book "Spiritual Warfare for Every Christian," as the introduction to this subject, 'God at War' is truly a scholarly rendition of the same concept; simply that spiritual warfare is a real fight, to be engaged in by Christians.
Across the Spectrum -by Gregory Boyd & Paul Eddy For those interested in theology, this is a book in which Boyd and Eddy do an excellent job of presenting as objectively as they can different views on various controversial subjects within the evangelical church. For instance the Calvinists / Armenian controversy, the foreknowledge debate, the Genesis debate, (six literal-day creation vs. epochs of time), the human constitution debate (are we body, soul and spirit, or are we just body and soul) the destiny of the un-evangelized debate (the inclusivist vs. exclusivist view), the women-in-ministry debate, the millennium debate, and the hell debate (unending torment of the wicked vs. the annihilationist view). I have found in my discussions on theology with many Christians that often times we are simply parroting people we have heard who are only presenting one side of the argument. 'Across the Spectrum' helps us appreciate both sides of 18 controversial issues in a fair and balanced way. If you are interested in these subjects but don’t have time to read all the original material, this book is a good read for you.
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